Can you get enough of this face?

Me either.

The hands......

The hands that made the pillow cases which adorn my girls' beds are the same hands that taught me to sew. They are the same hands that made my kindergarten dresses and the dresses my little ones wore their first years. They are the same strong hands who raised five girls and one boy. Her hands are smooth now but had callouses years ago as she never stepped away from hard work whether it be in a factory or in her flower beds. Those same hands always had a jar with green onions in water awaiting my arrival the summers were were able to go to Grandma's house. Living away from grandparents made me crave my time with them so much more.....

My grandma fought lung cancer five years ago and won.....it was a rough journey and one she handled with grace. A month or so ago, during a routine physical, cancer was discovered in her other lung. The spot is very small but the PET scan lit up her lymph nodes as well. Yesterday, a surgeon did a biopsy on the lymph nodes to determine if the cancer is throughout her body or isolated to the one spot. If it is in the one spot, the surgery to remove that spot is going to be a lot easier on her than her prior one. If the cancer is in the lymph nodes, chemo is the recommended course of treatment. Either way, it is a journey I am sorry to see her on again. So today, the same hands that made beautiful things for me and my children are folded in prayer for God to carry her and strengthen her family as she makes tough decisions and awaits the phone call revealing her prognosis.

"When I am afraid, I will trust in you" Psalm 56:3

First Bonfire....

The girls were not happy when light snow flurries made an appearance this afternoon because they had a bonfire planned. We didn't let the weather dampen our evening though and had roasted hot dogs, smores and a great time. I think we wrapped up Spring Break in a memorable way......

I love this shot! Austin was literally mid-flip when I snapped it....

I love a full house....this was just one of my doors!

Partied out......it was fun.

It's a firepit baby!

After three days of building and re-building, Greg finished his fire pit. The kids have a party planned for tomorrow night but the weather may not cooperate with them as we have experienced a significant drop in temperature and rain is in the forecast. Where oh where has my sunshine and warm weather gone????

Happy Birthday Greg!

Half pastel and half primary colored sprinkles to mark both birthdays in our house this week.

Greg and I went out to celebrate on Tuesday night. Dinner and an evening walk....simple pleasures.

Greg's parents may not be too excited to learn we used their financial birthday gift to buy rocks! Greg is building a fire pit off the corner of the patio. It is looking pretty good! We'll post final results once they are available! With Ty supervising this job it could take awhile! 

Daddy's girls

We couldn't get her to put down the cell phone long enough to take photos! I think she likes it!

Love the shoes! Girl chooses comfort AND style....perfect!

And this one would rather make scary faces than smile....stinker! She is her daddy's girl!

We missed the purity ball this year as a result of the flu so Greg took the oldest girls out for a nice dinner while on vacation this week. They had a beautiful evening and the company was pretty sweet.

Sweet 16!

Erin tells everyone she is "practically Amish" because she doesn't have a cell phone. Today, she turns 16 and this is her first cell phone. Clearly, she is pleased. Happy birthday Erin! I can't believe you are 16.

"I cook"

Smarty Pants

Lauren's glasses arrived today.....

Lauren started complaining of headaches while reading a few weeks ago. Off to the doctor we went and $400 later she is good as new, only looking a little cuter! (I'd like a frequent buyer card at the optometrist!)

It was 77 sunny degrees today so the girls and I took three strollers out for an hour long walk after lunch. We were quite the spectacle!
Our front door was left open when a gust of wind blew through carrying a trail of leaves into the house. At the same time, the wind also cleaned the dust off the top of the ceiling fan, which made it look like a snow storm blew through the living room! It wasn't a pretty storm! I had the girls entertain babies while I vacuumed the house and ran the shop vac on the front porch to clear off a winter's worth of debris. Good times.....

Erin has started her own blog.....I am a little afraid to share the link as she claims she'll use it to share all our family secrets! (I thought I had that covered with my blog?) Anyway, here it is but I promise you that if she shares the secret video she took of me exercising, you won't hear from her again!  Tootsie Pops & Trampolines http://withloveegb.blogspot.com/ is where you can see what she has to say.....